Kurtis Sutley  


Moscow Red Square by Kurtis Sutley

October 2021 - Moscow Red Square

October 2021 - Kurtis Sutley

Original

About the Image(s)

This is an image captured at the entrance to Red Square. The large building
on the left is the Gunn department store. It is the largest department
store/shopping center in Russia and it's right across the square from
Lenin's tomb. Ironic? The image was captured using a Canon 6D MKII paired
with a Tamron 28-300mm f3.5-6.3 lens. Settings were: 1/1250 sec., f/4, 37mm
and ISO 250. Initial basic processing in Lightroom Classic and then used
Topaz II to add a slight grunge. Then back to lightroom to add some
saturation, contrast and to crop.


This round’s discussion is now closed!
13 comments posted




Gabriele Dellanave   Gabriele Dellanave
It's a classic image of Moscow, but as you might experienced a hard one to crack. The view and cropping are classic Red Square, the final result a bit more difficult to achieve. I think that you have over-worked a little bit too much this image. I believe that the colors are oversaturated. Maybe you would like to go back to the original file, and try a little different approach, and less saturation.
  Posted: 10/02/2021 11:27:50



Jamie Federick   Jamie Federick
(Group 48)
I really love the grunge! I think that along with the color makes it really special! Could be in a magazine! Great job Kurtis!   Posted: 10/02/2021 14:00:53



Art Jacoby   Art Jacoby
I like the grunge effect and the great detail as well. I pushed it a bit further and did some burning to make the Kremlin the center and pop a bit more   Posted: 10/03/2021 23:10:32
Comment Image
Kurtis Sutley   Kurtis Sutley
I like what you did. Another option might be to desaturate all the buildings but the central cathedral. Side note/class: What you changed was Saint Basil's Cathedral. It's a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The Kremlin (part of it) is the large wall and watch tower behind Lenin's tomb to the right. Most people associate the cathedral with the Kremlin but in reality "kremlin" is just their word for "fort".   Posted: 10/04/2021 09:32:44
Art Jacoby   Art Jacoby
Thanks for the info about the building. For me, photography is not just documentary it can and is art as well.   Posted: 10/04/2021 21:20:17



Regine Guillemin
Wow!!!! Stunning ! I love it ! i love the contrast between the dramatic grey sky and the colorful foreground /midground. It makes this iconic view very unique! And I am impressed with your skills and how you were able to recover a so underexposed photograph ! Personally I won't change anything . the scenery and the power of the color here remind me some classical Russian Naive Art paintings . I would have no problem to hang this picture on the wall . Congrats!   Posted: 10/09/2021 10:16:18
Kurtis Sutley   Kurtis Sutley
Thank you for your encouraging words.
  Posted: 10/10/2021 18:12:05



Bev Caine   Bev Caine
(Groups 24 & 48 & 58)
I love the image. However, I thought that I remembered that the actual location of the buildings, etc, was reversed as to how you pictured it. So I went online and researched images of Red Square and my memory isn't as bad as I thought it is. I've submitted your image in reverse.   Posted: 10/17/2021 13:42:58
Comment Image
Kurtis Sutley   Kurtis Sutley
Don't know where you looked but my image is correct. I was there. Just to my left was the Synagogue. I'm at one of two western entrances where the military enter for their parades. Sorry.   Posted: 10/17/2021 15:16:51



Bev Caine   Bev Caine
(Groups 24 & 48 & 58)
I just googled Red Square but it's really immaterial. I love the image.   Posted: 10/17/2021 17:24:37



Alan Kaplan   Alan Kaplan
(Group 54)
Kurtis, I really like the grunge effect you have added to this image using Topaz II. Could you elaborate what you did with Topaz II to get such a wonderful effect. Thank you.   Posted: 10/19/2021 11:18:25



Kurtis Sutley   Kurtis Sutley
I would first process the RAW file in the basic Lightroom panel. I would then "edit in" Topaz Studio using the full color version but would "Add look" of Dramatic Black and White and then reduce opacity to around 50% or where it looked like it still retained most of the grunge and enough color to boost saturation and adjust brightness in the "Add filter" panel using HSL Color Tuning. There are a couple of "Looks" in the ADD Look panel that have varying amounts of grunge and react differently to opacity adjustments. In fact, I created my own but Dramatic Black and White works for me too. After boosting saturation and adjusting luminance I accept it back into Lightroom for final processing which includes cropping and contrast adjustments. From there you can add a vignette or dodge and burn as required. Hope this helps. One last item: In my work flow I DeNoise using Topaz DeNoise AI before taking the image into Studio. For me a noisy image generates too much grunge...but that's just me.   Posted: 10/19/2021 16:28:25
Alan Kaplan   Alan Kaplan
(Group 54)
Thank you for taking the time to elaborate your process. That's the essence of the PID groups!   Posted: 10/20/2021 06:42:47